Afghanistan War - What Has The Conflict Cost The US - BBC News

4/25/2020 Afghanistan war: What has the conflict cost the US?
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Afghanistan war: What has the conflict cost the US?

By Reality Check team
BBC News
28 February 2020
Reality Check
GETTY IMAGES
There've been months of negotiations between the US and the Taliban to try to end the
conflict and reach a peace deal in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump has often said that he's keen to bring soldiers home from America's
longest-running war.
We are working to finally end

America’s longest war and bring our
troops back home.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47391821 1/18
4/25/2020 Afghanistan war: What has the conflict cost the US? - BBC News
Donald Trump
US President
Getty Images
So we've been looking at how much the US has spent in Afghanistan since the war began.
What forces did the US send?

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 to oust the Taliban, whom they said were
harbouring Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures linked to the 9/11 attacks.
US troop numbers in Afghanistan grew as Washington poured in billions of dollars to fight a

Taliban insurgency and fund reconstruction.
US troop levels in Afghanistan

2002 - 2019
120,000
110,000
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
As of December 2019
Source: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)
Between 2010 to 2012, when the US for a time had more than 100,000 soldiers in the country,
the cost of the war grew to almost $100bn a year, according to US government figures.
As the US military shifted its focus away from offensive operations and concentrated more on
training up Afghan forces, costs fell sharply.
Between 2016 and 2018 annual expenditure was around $40bn, and the estimated spend for
2019 (up to September) is $38bn.
US cost of war in Afghanistan

2001 - 2019
Year
2001 1
2002 20
2003 12
2004 10
2005 12
2006 14
2007 20
2008 32
2009 47
2010 77
2011 97
2012 98
2013 78
2014 60
2015 47
2016 38
2017 41
2018 36
2019 38
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
$ Billions
Source: US Department of Defense
According to the US Department of Defense, the total military expenditure in Afghanistan

(from October 2001 until September 2019) was $778bn.
In addition, the US State Department - along with the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) and other government agencies - spent $44bn on reconstruction
projects.
Why is there a war in Afghanistan?
Who are the Taliban?
Afghanistan: A timeline
That brings the total cost - based on official data - to $822bn since the war began in 2001, but
it doesn't include any spending in Pakistan, which the US uses as a base for Afghan-related
operations.
An independent study carried out by Brown University's Cost of War Project argues that
the official US figures for the Afghan war are a substantial underestimate.
It says that Congress has approved funds amounting to about one trillion dollars for
Afghanistan as well as for Pakistan.
Neta Crawford, co-director of the Cost of the War Project, also says this "does not include any
of the other costs for war veterans' care, money spent on other government departments for
war-related activities and the cost of interest on debt incurred to pay for the conflict,"
If you factor this in, the cost is closer to two trillion dollars, she adds.
Where has the money gone?

The bulk of the money has been spent on counter-insurgency operations, and on the needs of
US troops such as food, clothing, medical care, special pay and benefits.
Official data shows the US has also contributed approximately $137bn -16% of all money
spent in the last 18 years - to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
And more than half of that ($86bn) has gone on building up Afghan security forces, including
the Afghan National Army and police force.
GETTY IMAGES
The rest has been mainly spent on improving governance and infrastructure, as well as on
economic and humanitarian aid and anti-drug initiatives.
The US has spent on average $1.5m day - or nearly $9bn since 2002 until September last
year - on anti-narcotics efforts, yet UN figures show that the total estimated area devoted
to opium poppy cultivation reached a record high in 2017.
In 2017, the US watchdog responsible for the oversight of reconstruction efforts said that as
much as $15.5bn had been lost on "waste, fraud and abuse" over the past 11 years.
That figure is probably "only a portion" of the total waste, according to the watchdog, which
added that US money "often exacerbated conflicts, enabled corruption, and bolstered support
for insurgents".
What about the human cost?

Since the war against the Taliban began in 2001, US forces have suffered more than 2,300
deaths and around 20,660 soldiers injured in action.
GETTY IMAGES
According to official figures, approximately 13,000 US military personnel were in Afghanistan

as of December 2019, but there were also nearly 11,000 US civilians who were working as
contractors.
But US casualty figures are dwarfed by the loss of life among Afghan security forces and
civilians.
President Ghani said last year that more than 45,000 members of the Afghan security forces
had been killed since he became president in 2014.
Total civilian casualties in Afghanistan

2009 - 2019
Killed Injured
12,000
11,000
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Source: UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Mr Ghani's decision to reveal casualty figures was unusual as the US and Afghan
governments don't normally publish Afghan death tolls.
However, some media reports say that in recent years Afghan security force fatalities
have been very high, sometimes averaging 30-40 deaths a day.
And according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), more
than 100,000 civilians have been killed or injured since it began systematically recording
civilian casualties in 2009.
Read more from Reality Check
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4/25/2020 Afghanistan war: What has the conflict cost the US?

Home News Sport Reel Worklife Travel Future M

Afghanistan war: What has the conflict cost the US?

We are working to finally end

What forces did the US send?

US troop numbers in Afghanistan grew as Washington poured in billions of dollars to fight a

US troop levels in Afghanistan

US cost of war in Afghanistan

Source: US Department of Defense

According to the US Department of Defense, the total military expenditure in Afghanistan

Why is there a war in Afghanistan?

Who are the Taliban?

Where has the money gone?

What about the human cost?

According to official figures, approximately 13,000 US military personnel were in Afghanistan

Total civilian casualties in Afghanistan

Source: UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

Read more from Reality Check

Send us your questions

Afghanistan Reality Check War in Afghanistan (2001-present)

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